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The 6-foot-7, 270-pound defensive end bet on himself and happily accepted a franchise tag for $11.175 million last season, then hit the free agent market this offseason as one of the most sought-after defensive ends in the NFL.

He was rewarded Tuesday with five years and $43.5 million of no-state-tax riches in sunny Tampa Bay.

The Bengals believe they've played the process of replacing Johnson shrewdly, too. Whether Marvin Lewis and company see plans unfold as flawlessly will determine the health of their third-ranked defense.

"He's one of the leaders of our team on the defensive side," defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said at the NFL Combine. "He's a lunch pail guy. He'd be a big loss, there's no question. Guys will have to step up if he's not going to be here."

Stepping up spans beyond Sunday afternoons. As the group dubbed the Fisher-Price unit grew up and all turned into mega-millionaire NFL stars, none accepted the role of aggressive vocal leader more than Johnson.

His voice set the baseline for the backbone of the Bengals. Johnson didn't shy away from speaking his mind whether inside the privacy of the defensive line room, on the field or in public regarding boos directed at his quarterback.

On the field, pointing out the fall off quantifies easily. Johnson takes 26.5 sacks, 25 pass deflections, three interceptions and three forced fumbles to Tampa. His 63 total hits, hurries and sacks last season led the team. Most importantly, he played 90 percent of the team's snaps.

Yet, one year ago, when negotiations between the Bengals and Johnson's agent Rick Smith heated up, a realization the two views of the 27-year-old's value differed. Cincinnati cut bait and offered six years, $40 million and $17.4 million guaranteed to Carlos Dunlap.

At 25 years old Dunlap delivered the best season of his career, suggesting the trend arrow still shoots upward.

Also, Cincinnati dropped a three-year deal on Wallace Gilberry. He accepted and all he did was tie Dunlap for the team lead in sacks (7.5) while invaluably shifting inside and outside following the ACL injury to Geno Atkins.

To add to insurance, they selected Margus Hunt – built in an even freakier athletic mold than Johnson at 6-foot-8 and 280 pounds – in the second round. Pressure increases on Hunt to make a step only in his fifth year of playing football.

"One of my plans with him is to just maybe spend some individual time with Margus in the spring and get him up to speed with some different things," Guenther said. "The first year, because he's still new to the game in general, you know you're in the NFL and you know the speed of the game and you know you're against good tackles week in and week out, I think he knows what to expect a little bit better now. Hopefully he'll make that jump this year. We're going to need him to."

Next year an eight-man rotation of returning players who circulated through the defensive line before are all in the mix.

The Johnson safety net has been set. What ended up being reported as $23 million in guaranteed money needed to keep Johnson can flow toward other position groups not so highly compensated. Pro Bowlers A.J. Green and Vontaze Burfict stand first in line.

Remember, the Bengals employed the most well-paid defense in football last season with the front line soaking up the majority of it.

The key will be finding the group of players capable of providing consistency and versatility off the edge.

"He could do so many different things," defensive line coach Jay Hayes said. "Not only play the run, rush the passer, he does things in coverage, he can stand up and move around. He can do a lot of different things for us that adds versatility to our defense."

Now Johnson will add versatility to the Buccaneers.

In the end, the lucrative offer bestowed upon Johnson proved far too rich for the Bengals. They spent the third-most cash in the NFL last season ($139 million), and much of that went to their defensive front. Dunlap and Atkins (5 years, $55 million) are both paid among the top 10 at their position.

Johnson will stand at the press conference inside One Bucs Place Wednesday at noon as the seventh-highest paid 4-3 defensive end in football. The pieces for optimum success fell into place perfectly for him.